Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 28.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a campaign-style speech Sunday to rally his MPs ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday, vowing that the Official Opposition will push for lower taxes and spending, a boost in the supply of housing and tougher penalties for criminals.
Mr. Poilievre made the comments Sunday in a public speech to his caucus of MPs, who then met privately for several hours to discuss strategy.
Earlier Sunday, Abacus Data released its latest polling, showing the Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals with 40-per-cent support, followed by the Liberals at 25 per cent and 20 per cent for the NDP.
The Conservative Party’s continued large lead in the polls is expected to influence the dynamic on Parliament Hill, where the minority Liberal government relies on an agreement with the NDP to stay in power.
An election is scheduled to take place in October, 2025, but could occur sooner if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requests an earlier vote or if the NDP pulls its support and the government is defeated on a confidence matter.
In his public speech, Mr. Poilievre criticized what he described as a “costly coalition” between the Liberals and NDP, but switched the message in French, saying the Liberals are staying in power thanks to support from the Bloc Québécois.
The policy priorities he listed Sunday are consistent with the message Mr. Poilievre has been delivering since he became Conservative Leader in September, 2022, including vows to eliminate federal carbon pricing on consumers and ending what he called the “catch and release system” that he says allows criminals to obtain bail too easily.
“The root cause of crime is criminals. Put the criminals in jail, you have less crime. It will be jail, not bail, for repeat violent offenders,” he said. “Conservatives will fight throughout this session to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget. Stop the crime.”
The Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc also held similar strategy retreats in recent days.
Mr. Trudeau began last week with a cabinet retreat in Montreal, where the government made a major announcement by placing a two-year cap on the number of international student visas.
The move is in direct response to concerns that the recent sharp growth in the number of foreign students is contributing to a strain on the Canadian housing market.
After the cabinet retreat, Mr. Trudeau held a caucus gathering on Parliament Hill, which kicked off with headlines about an interview Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal MP Ken McDonald gave to Radio-Canada, in which he called for a leadership review. The day after his comments were published, Mr. McDonald issued a written statement saying he was not calling for a review.
The federal Liberals spoke frequently last week about the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency, naming two ministers to lead the government’s preparations for the possibility that Mr. Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November. Liberals are also increasing their efforts to link Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Trump in an attempt to chip away at Conservative support.
The first government bill that’s up for debate Monday is C-59, which implements parts of the government’s fall economic update, including tax changes related to green incentives and a new Digital Services Tax.
Liberal House Leader Steve MacKinnon said passing C-59 will be one of his government’s top priorities over the next few weeks. He accused the Conservatives of obstructing key bills with procedural moves.
He said C-59 is a significant piece of legislation and pointed out that the 2024 federal budget is also in the works. The document is typically presented in March, but no date has been announced for this year’s budget.
“We will continue to be focused like a laser on the economy, on affordability and on housing,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Liberal caucus meeting.
Since December, the Liberals have increasingly pressed the Conservatives to explain how Mr. Poilievre could achieve his promised balanced budget, suggesting the Conservatives are planning spending cuts that they have not disclosed.
Mr. Poilievre said Sunday that he would cut back on the use of consultants, cancel the Canada Infrastructure Bank and the ArriveCan app and ensure that any new spending is offset by cuts elsewhere.
Liberal MPs acknowledged last week that their party is in a weak position in public-opinion polling and also openly talked about the strong negative views that some voters have toward Mr. Trudeau. But many have also said they believe that with likely more than a year before the next election, it’s still possible to turn their fortunes around.
Asked what the government’s plan is to try and claw back the support it has lost, Liberal campaign co-chair Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the government needs to remain focused on Canadians’ needs.
“We have time in front of us to make that connection with Canadians and let them know that we’re there for them,” Ms. Martinez Ferrada said.
The Abacus survey was conducted with 2,199 Canadian adult panelists from Jan. 18 to 23. The survey does not have a margin of error, but the company says that a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, said in an interview that the Liberals are “up against two forces that are making it really hard for them to find traction.”
He said that eight years in, there is voter fatigue with the Prime Minister and a “very broad desire for change.” That sentiment is compounded by the high cost of living driven by inflation and interest-rate hikes, which Mr. Coletto said is something “governments can’t do much about and get punished deeply for.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his caucus met for a few days last week in Edmonton, where they made clear that reaching a deal on pharmacare will be an early policy priority in Parliament over the next few weeks.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Mr. Singh brushed off questions about whether the low public support for the minority Liberals will alter the NDP deal to support the government in exchange for policy concessions.
“For us, whether the Liberals are popular or not doesn’t make any difference. We’re going to keep on fighting for Canadians,” he said.